We’d heard that in winters it rains in Texas, whereas it snows in other parts, coming down here in Texas we literally felt so. Winters have become really terrible with frequent rains. And going out of home with an infant looks like an absolute no. We missed out our Christmas expedition cause three of us were down with a cold. But it was compensated by marathon cooking at home. We sometimes celebrate our time with cooking and gorging on the delicacies. This Christmas was something different, after eating a lot of cookies and cakes from a week ahead, we didn’t want anything sweet.

We wanted was something nice and simple. The rain frequently forced me to laze and cook something warm. Therefore, I decided to make the Bengali style Masoor Daler Khichuri or Masoor Dal Khichdi seasoned with the garam masala to comfort us.

Khichdi is a traditional Indian dish cooked in almost all states of India with variety in seasoning, vegetables and lentils along with rice. This variation of Khichdi is also termed as Amish Khichuri or Non veg variation as Red Lentils is considered non veg for their long term association with the nitrogen fixation. It is eaten warm in winter or rainy days. The variation I prepared, is loaded with spice, but with no vegetables and is served with warm crispy Aloo Bhaja or deep fried potatoes and a simple omelette.

Add 3 cups of water and let the red lentils cook, cover the pan with a lid.

Adding Water to the lentils

Once the red lentils look half cooked, add the soaked rice and cover the lid.

Adding Soaked Basmati Rice

Cook the Khichdi, till the water dries out or thickens. In case, you feel water is insufficient add extra cup of warm water.

Almost Done

I was craving for a mushy version of the Khichdi, so I let it cook extra till the rice is almost done into a mashed texture and the lentils form a thick gravy kind of around the rice.

Traditionally, in Bengal the Khichdi is served with either a fish fry or omelette or eggplant fritters or thin potato sliced potato fries. So, I went according to the roots and served mine with Omlette and Jhiri Jhiri Aloo Bhaja.

Recipe of Jhiri Jhiri Aloo Bhaja:

Jhiri Jhiri Aloo Bhaja

Ingredients:

Medium sized Potatoes – 2

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Mustard Oil for deep frying

Chili flakes for seasoning

Black salt for seasoning

Steps of Preparation:

Wash the potatoes and peel off the skin.

Cut the potatoes into thin slices and soak them in ice cold water.

Thin slices of potato

Strain the potatoes just before frying and mix the turmeric powder so that it evenly coats on the potato surface.

Coat evenly with turmeric

Deep fry the slices till crisp and light golden brown.

Deep fry the potatoes

Season it with chili flakes and black salt when the fries are hot.

Recipe for Omelette:

Omelette

Ingredients:

Egg – 3 large sized

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Salt – according to taste

Mustard Oil – 1 tbsp

Steps of Preparation:

Beat the egg with turmeric powder and salt till fluffy.

Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp of Mustard Oil and pour the egg batter.

Flip the egg Omelette, when the egg solidifies and is golden brown.

Cook the other side till golden brown.

Masoor dal er Khichuri served with Aloo Bhaja and Omelette

Now serve these yummy potatoes with the Khichdi and relish with pickle and Omlette. Perfect comfort food for the winter and rainy days, as it’s loaded with the pungent flavor of mustard oil, which is a sure relief to a blocked nose and sore throat.